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Islanders cool off Rangers

New York Islanders center Frans Nielsen (51) celebrates with New York Islanders left wing Nikolay Kulemin (86) after scoring a goal as New York Rangers defenseman Dan Boyle, far right, watches a replay on a giant video screen in the second period at Madison Square Garden in New York Tuesday. The Islanders shut out the Rangers 3-0.(Photo: AP)

NEW YORK – Frans Nielsen's short-handed tally capped the Islanders' three-goal second period, Jaroslav Halak made 27 saves in his fourth shutout of the season, and Long Island's team cooled off the New York Rangers with a 3-0 victory on Tuesday night.

The Rangers had won five straight and 13 of 14 — a run punctuated by a three-game California sweep last week — but the Metropolitan Division-leading Islanders finished a seven-game road trip with their third straight win.

Shortly after the Islanders had a goal waved off because of interference in the crease, Anders Lee broke the scoreless deadlock at 8:49 of the second with his 11th goal. Nikolay Kulemin made it 2-0 with 3:39 left, and Nielsen capped the scoring with the Islanders' NHL-leading seventh short-handed goal of the season in the final minute of the period.

Red Wings 3, Sabres 1: In Buffalo, Petr Mrazek made 25 saves in his first start in place of injured starting goalie Jimmy Howard, and the Detroit Red Wings beat the Buffalo Sabres. Darren Helm, Gustav Nyquist and Tomas Tatar scored for the Red Wings, who have won three of four.

Mike Weber scored for the Sabres, who have lost eight straight.

The Sabres honored Hall of Fame goalie Dominik Hasek by retiring his No. 39 in a pregame ceremony. Hasek starred for Buffalo from 1992-01, winning six Vezina Trophies and consecutive Hart Memorial Trophies in 1997 and 1998, before being traded to Detroit, where he won Stanley Cups in 2002 and 2008.

The Red Wings played for the first time since Howard injured his groin early in Saturday's loss at Washington. Howard is the Red Wings' second injured goalie. Jonas Gustavsson was placed on injured reserve Nov. 6 with a separated shoulder.

Jordan Staal scored his first of the season and Patrick Dwyer the other goal for the Hurricanes, who have won five straight home games against the Avalanche with one in overtime and the other in the shootout.

Matt Duchene and John Mitchell scored third period goals for the Avalanche.

Colorado won the teams' only other meeting this season at home with a 4-3 comeback on Nov. 22.

Khudobin had 28 saves for the Hurricanes, 4-1-1 in their last six, while Colorado's Calvin Pickard stopped 44 shots.

Carolina has not allowed a power-play goal in a franchise-record 11 games. Each team was penalized just once during the game.

Penguins 7, Wild 2: In Pittsburgh, David Perron scored twice and added an assist to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins by the reeling Minnesota Wild. Paul Martin, Kris Letang and Chris Kunitz each had a goal and an assist for the Penguins. Marcel Goc and Brandon Sutter also scored for Pittsburgh.

Sidney Crosby collected three assists for the Penguins, who had little trouble with the floundering Wild. Marc-Andre Fleury made 30 saves, including several key stops early to give his teammates time to find a rhythm.

Niklas Backstrom stopped 29 of the 35 shots before being pulled following Letang's goal midway through the third period. Jonas Brodin and Justin Fontaine scored for the Wild, who never led.

Minnesota has lost six straight and 12 of its last 14.

Bruins 4, Lightning 3: In Boston, Rookie David Pastrnak scored twice for the second straight game and Milan Lucic had a goal and an assist as the Boston Bruins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning for their fourth straight win.

Brad Marchand also scored and Torey Krug and David Krejci had two assists each for the Bruins, who held the Lightning to 16 shots.

Pastrnak, called up from Providence of the AHL on Jan. 6, scored his first two career goals Saturday in Boston's 3-1 win at Philadelphia. Boston's first-round draft pick in 2014, Pastrnak doubled his total against the Lightning as the Bruins continued gaining ground in the Eastern Conference standings by improving to 5-0-3 in their last eight games.

Steven Stamkos scored two goals for Tampa Bay, giving him 25 for the season. Ben Bishop had 30 saves.